Kiss from the devil
by JudgeGooby
Summary: It would take patience and a little persuasion on his part...but with the right bait you can catch any fish you want. ItachiXSakura
1. Good girl

Heyo peoples, this is a Itachi/sakura fic, and i havnt decided yet if there will be some deidara/sakura goodness in the later chapters...anyway hope yous like the first chap!

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Not for the first time that day, Sakura's hair was used against her. With one, hand, the Akatsuki member seized the smaller nin by the top of her head and shook her like a rag doll. This effectively stopped the screaming of fear but turned the noise into one of pain as the young woman felt hair pull free of her head. She gripped around his wrist, digging fingernails into the flesh in hopes that he would let go. It did nothing but annoy him.

"Stop moving or I'll kill you" he growled, was easy to understand and she quickly let go of his hand and clamped her mouth shut. The shaking, much to her relief, stopped and she was set on her feet.

As soon as he had released her hair, his hand encircled her upper arm. Sakura gulped, as the man's blue tinged fingers were able to touch around her limb. This was not someone to be reckoned with. He was large, powerful, without any sort of ceremony; the shark like man spun on his heel and dragged the hapless female behind him.

It was all Sakura could do to keep up with the other's quick pace. Stumbling, she bumped her shins on protruding stumps and was whipped in the face by branches back lashing after the man's passage. If she fell, he merely hauled her along until she regained her footing enough to flounder behind him one more. Scraped, bruised, and thoroughly disgruntled, she trudged in his wake. She was too busy tying to remain in tact to let the fear welling up in the pit of her stomach take its hold on her. If given the chance to panic, she would have. Sakura had awoken in a foreign forest at the blade point of a large, ugly alliance enemy. It was at that point that she cursed her decision to leave her pack at her house.

The smell of smoke brought Sakura's attention to a break in the trees ahead. Reaching the clearing, the girl was roughly thrown onto the grass-covered ground. Blinking, she realized the black in her field of vision belonged to a pair of well kept boots. Following those boots upward, she took in every detail of clothing, from the midnight black of his cloak, to the red clouds. It was clear from just his clothing that this new man was another Akatsuki. As her eyes reached the face that accompanied the body, she felt herself petrified with fear.

The newcomer was tall, but not as tall as the shark like man who captured her, but he was not as bulky. Slender would be how she would describe him, Lean, perhaps, was a better word. His build wasn't one for hefting around; it was for speed and agility. His hair was the darkest shade of black Sakura had ever seen apart from Sasukes and it was tied back in a loose pony tail that disappeared under his cloak.

_'Sasuke…no…this is…'_ Blood red sharingan met with her own emerald ones, and Sakura felt her self-beginning to tremble with fear. _'Itachi…Uchiha itachi!'_

Itachi turned to the other and spoke in quiet tones, to quiet and jumbled for her disoriented mind to understand. The first spat back some harsh sounding sentences and aimed a kick for the girl on the ground. Surprisingly, Itachi stopped the first man with a motion of his hand. Sakura would find out shortly that she was in for a lot of surprises. It had been a very shocking day.

"Who are you, and what is your purpose here?"

Sakura's eyes snapped up to the Itachi with alarm. She didn't have time to process the shock before a kick did manage to make contact with her side. It was the first man's foot that made the offence and she grunted and curled into a ball. Itachi shot his partner a glare, before turning his attention back to Sakura. He repeated his question in monotone.

"Where is here?" she countered, a bit more pertly than she'd intended. It was not easy being hung-over, shaken around, bleeding to death, dragged through the woods, and kicked. Tears were threatening and only by sheer will Sakura kept them from escaping her eyes. She glared up at the eldest Uchiha, trying to seem more confidant than she really felt.

He glared back and reached down to take a hold of her hair. She mentally growled as his slender fingers entwined in her pink locks and forced her head back at a sharp angle. "Answer the question," he murmured calmly.

"We were a mission to the village of waves, rogue nin attacked us, I was knocked out, obviously separated from my squad and dragged here against my will" she ground out, a sharp pain lancing through her neck as it was held in that uncomfortable position. "I don't want to be here."

He seemed to process that information for a moment before releasing her hair and straightening. He spoke in hushed tones to his partner who made a motion towards Sakura that she did not particularly like. The first man came towards her with his large sword drawn.

Sakura mind raced rapidly as she watched him raise his sword in what seemed like slow motion. Before she had even fully gathered the thought into her mind, her mouth opened and she blurted out the first thing she could think of.

"My name is Sakura Haruno! If you kill me, my village will avenge me!"

The bandaged sword wavered and the two exchanged glances. Itachi spoke. "Sakura Haruno?" Sakura nodded her affirmative. "You lie." His tone cold.

"I do not. When they find out I'm missing there will be a reward for my return, my friends won't rest until they find me." She was thinking more clearly now and was stalling. "Keep me alive and you'll be spared, I'll make sure of that. Kill me and the Hokage will have your heads."

Sakura panicked on the ground near them. It seemed like forever before some decision was made regarding the small captive they had.

The two exchanged glances again, and the blue man grinned, revealing sharp pointed teeth.

"Akatsuki will take that into consideration and keep you alive….for now" Itachi spoke softly in her ear, bending slightly to do so as the top of her head only came to his shoulder a shiver passed down Sakura back that had nothing to do with the warm breath breathed into her ear. She prayed that Tsunade had enough mind to post a reward before launching a massive, world-wide search for her.

With hands none-too-gentle, itachi tied Sakura's wrists behind her back and hefted her back to her feet.

With a shove, Itachi led the girl toward a tent set up at the opposite side of the clearing. Instead of taking her to the tent he pushed the girl toward a nearby tree and followed her. Dragging her by her bounded hands backwards, she felt him adjusting the knot to allow for a chain to slip through. She was being secured to the thick trunk behind her.

Suddenly, he gently cupped Sakura's cheek when he noticed her attention was wandering to Kisame who was beginning a fire, his cold hand moved to hold her chin turning her to face him, his crimson eyes bore into hers. "For now, you will be called the name you gave us. You will talk only when kisame or I speak to you. Any attempt to run or escape and we will be forced to deal with your little friends." The implication was clear to Sakura that, if she should run away, they would kill her and worry about the Konoha Nin's later. "Do you understand?" The hand tightened painfully.

"Yes," she squeaked, unable to nod her acquisition.

"Yes, what?" he prompted, fingers digging hard enough to leave bruises on her pale flesh.

"Yes, Itachi-san," she whispered, the corners of her eyes becoming moist from the pain he was causing her.

"Good girl," he said derisively, shoving her backwards suddenly so that her head smacked trunk behind her with a loud thunk. "We will be leaving as soon as the sun rises tomorrow." With a sneer, the sharingan wielding Uchiha moved from her and to tent, letting the flap of canvas fall down behind him.

The moment Itachi had left to the tent, all of Sakura's bravado whooshed out of her with a sob. The dams she had placed in front of her eyes burst and there was nothing the girl could do to still the hot tears that steamed down her face as she cried into the grass she lay on.

Before long, the sobs died in Sakura's throat and she felt she had let out all she needed to. She could cry all she wanted and it wouldn't change the situation. With a shaky breath, the young woman sat up and, pulling her knees to her chest, rubbed her face against them to dry it off.

"Feelin' better kunoichi?" Kisame's voice sounded from her right. Looking over, Sakura gave him a glare of the utmost loathing.

"Poor thing," Kisame continued in a tone that indicated he couldn't careless. "They won't be looking for you, you're little friends have all left you for dead cauz' they don't give a shit about you."

Sakura could only ignore Kisame. Fervently, she willed Tsunade and Naruto to find her and take her away from this mess. Never had Sakura had any inkling of the true cruelty of the Akatsuki until the moment she had awoken in this land. She found herself missing the days she spent over-working her self at the hospital and longed for it. Given a choice, she reflected rather ironically, she would much rather spend the rest of her days filling out paperwork than being stuck to the tree, chained like a dog, and beaten by angry, ugly Akatsuki. This was, by far, the worst day sakura had ever had.

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R&R please 


	2. Hack and slash

Thanks for the reviews people! They have given me inspiration to keep on writing, though I might need a little help from you guys. (Severe writers block here) in probably chapter three or four they will arrive at the Akatsuki headquarters, and sakura will meet the family.

Should I make it a love triangle? Itachi likes sakura but sakura likes Deidara? Or Itachi& sakura with Deidara wanting Sakura…I cant decide. But for now ill keep it Itachi Sakura…

Deidara is so cool

* * *

"Where the hell is she?" Tsunade demanded, her brown eyes wide.

"We dont know, our whole squad got seperated in the confusion!!" said naruto. Kakashi stood next to him, and even through the calm exterior, an air of urgency was felt.

"She could be dead," Kakashi frowned, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"How could you even say that!" Naruto crossed his arms. "She's still alive, believe it!" The blonde grit his teeth.

"Naruto we have to take what Kakashi said into consideration," The Hokage mimicked the chunin's actions. Naruto bristled and clenched his fists in rage.

"But if she where dead, I'm quite sure we would have found a body, as of yet there has been no sign of her." Tsunade rubbed her temples in distress. "I'll send an ANBU squad to scout our territory to look for her."

"She said she knew what she was doing," Naruto defended his teammate.

"Sakura is a very strong and intelligent shinobi." Kakashi began. "…so I there's a strong chance she's still alive."

"I want to go and help" The blonde stared intensely at the floor. _'She can't be dead, cant be!'_

"I know you do Naruto, but we cannot risk it with the Akatsuki running around!"

"Please old lady, I know we can find her!"

Tsunade heaved another sigh.

after a few moments she came to a decision. "I'll request permission from the other Kages to allow one squad of our ninja to search their territories, but the possibility of finding her is still slim. Naruto, I hope your right and we'll find her."

"Gaara should be more than willing to help," Kakashi stated. "Especially considering he thinks highly of you." Naruto nodded, and turned his blue eyes to the Hokage.

"Naruto, take six other chunnin to each village leader and have them sign this scroll if they grant us permission." She tossed the parchment at the blonde, who stuffed it quickly into his breast pocket, before clipping the green flap back in place.

"This will take forever, though!" He growled.

"It's the best we can do," Kakashi sighed crossing his arms.

"I'll head for Suna first. Gaara might offer some extra help," He bowed.

"Do your best, Uzumaki," Tsunade inclined her head in return.

_

* * *

_

The moment Sakura awoke, she realized it had not been all one very bad dream as she had hoped it would be. Dark unfamiliar canopy met her eyes and she felt a severe ache in her shoulders from having her arms tied behind her back while she slept. Sitting up from her side, the young woman allowed her eyes to adjust to the dim of the early morning, sakura attempted to roll some of the stiffness out of her shoulder unsuccessfully.

With a groan, the young woman let her arms slump behind her and tugged uselessly at the bindings. This motion she regretted moments later as the chain clinked loudly, like an alarm Itachi was out of the tent to check on the cause. When his eyes lit upon sakura, his smirk grew. The older man walked towards her purposefully and landed a strong cuff on the side of her head. Yelping, Sakura fell to her side and cringed.

"Trying to escape so soon?" Itachi asked as his fingers hooked the collar of her red shirt and righted her. She felt the material strain as she was lifted to her feet and prayed it wouldn't rip. As bad as it was to be in the middle of the wilderness, being topless in only her dark bra and would be far worse.

She shook her head rapidly to his question and stared adamantly at her feet, refusing to look into his face. He took her posture as one of submission and released her. "Good," he muttered. "We have ground to cover." With as much roughness as he had handled her, Itachi yanked sakura to a standing position.

Much to Sakura's dismay, a gray drizzle began. She watched as the two captors disassembled the tent and bundled it onto a horse standing nearby. Its halter was tied, in turn, to another horse. A third mount stood beside the second, flicking its ears in annoyance at the rain. Sakura gaze travelled over the clearing and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the creature crouching on a thick branch few meters away.

Her chin dropped in a silent scream, as a pair of amber eyes met her own terrified saucers. The creature before her was a hybrid between a Venus flytrap and a human. Two enormous jaws encased a multicoloured head topped with shaggy green hair. The left side of the face was black, and looked ready to disembowel her, while the right was a sickly white, but looked more surprised than hostile. The creature took its time surveying the new addition. She noticed it was wearing the Akatsuki cloak, and attempted to calm herself with deep breaths swallowed.

Itachi approached the pink haired kunoichi while Kisame double-checked everything tied to the packhorse or to their mounts was secure. Methodically, as if it had been done hundreds of times over, itachi reached Sakura, he eyed her for a moment before untying her and dragging her further over to the horses. Without a word, he shoved her forward and tied her wrists more tightly than she thought necessary. Without warning, she squeaked in pain as the rope dug into her skin, jerking slightly away from the Uchiha. She was rewarded with another cuff and a grunt from Itachi to keep still and quiet.

"Zetsu." said Itachi; he straightened and cast a motion toward the giant Venus flytrap that had been eyeing sakura, Sakura watched in horror as the plant's human lips peeled back into a feral grin, revealing jagged teeth.

It lumbered forward with a sickeningly smooth motion, belying a killing grace. The young woman watched him approach with rapt attention, not trusting this creature any more than she trusted the cold-blooded murderer who repeatedly smacked her when she made any sort of noise or resistance. "Now," Itachi said smoothly, addressing Zetsu. "We have an extra special guest to today." His dark tone was sarcastic as his hand dropped heavily onto the top of Sakura's messy hair. His fingers curled into it and Sakura held back a gasp as her head was tugged for emphasis. "Sakura," he turned his red gaze to the young woman who's hair he grasped, forcing her to look at him and not at the other Akatsuki, "If you make any attempt to flee, Zetsu will track you down and slowly devour you alive. Understand?" Zetsu's eyes watched sakura hungrily after that statement.

"Yes, Itachi-san," she whispered in reply, not able to nod her head as he held it firmly in place. She had no doubt the killing power of the other Akatsuki member.

"Good girl," Itachi whispered back, no actual praise in his voice. He released her and turned to Kisame. Words were exchanged quickly and both mounted their horses. Taking point, Itachi attached her chain to the rear of his saddle. Kisame rode behind sakura, leading the packhorse.

Without a word to warn sakura that she was to start walking, Itachi urged his horse into a fast walk, causing Sakura to pitch forward violently. A quick stumble and a rather undignified squawk later, the young woman trudged grudgingly behind her captor.

The rain was progressively turning the paths they took into a giant quagmire. It only took one half of an hour for Sakura to lose a sandal in the mud. Her request to stop and retrieve the footwear fell on deaf ears and the girl had to make her way with only one shod foot until some twenty minutes after that when her second sandal fell victim to the sucking mud. Completely miserable, the girl ignored her frozen, mud caked feet and mindlessly kept the tail end of Itachi's mount at the top of her vision.

She envied the others and their knee length boots. They all had been equipped for travel, while sakura was in her soft red shirt, sandals and a pair of shorts. Her most expensive and nice outfit was now splattered with mud and clinging to her skin. She cursed her fashion sense of wearing a dark bra under her red colored shirt as the drizzle-turned-downpour turned her previously smooth and non-see-through top transparent. Her feet clipped often on protruding roots and rocks. Fixating on her clothing, however vain such a thought was considering the circumstances, prevented Sakura from falling into complete despair at her situation.

Despite the muck covering the path, Itachi's pace did not falter and Sakura felt hard-pressed to keep up in her conditions. It was tempting to tear off her shirt, to stop it from sticking to her, but doing so would be the last resort in the young shinobi's mind.

It was the third time in ten minutes that Sakura tripped and stumbled into the mud. Using the pull of the horse in front of her, she struggled to get to her feet before Kisame behind her tread upon her back. She needn't have bothered getting up as a boot collided with the back of her head, causing the young woman to fall face first into the mud once more. Sputtering a mouth full of inky-black dirt, Sakura glared at Itachi's partner sitting smugly on his horse. Her look rewarded her with another boot to the head. Leaning down in his saddle, Kisame snagged the woman by her hair and hauled her up in the mud. "Fall down again kunoichi, and I'll feed you to Zetsu" he released her, and rode back behind to the packhorse.

Itachi gazed over his shoulder with what could only be seen as boredom, although the corners of his mouth turned down slightly at the sight of his partner kicking the smaller, weaker female in the head not once but twice. That was over doing it a bit. When Kisame made no move to kick a third time and merely snapped a few words at the girl, Itachi let it drop. The pink haired kunoichi looked up and met his gaze "Keep glaring like that, and _I_ will feed you to Zetsu." Itachi smirked with satisfaction to see the girl straighten herself; She seemed fairly chastised and none-too-frightened at the thought.

Regardless of the warnings, Sakura grew very tired and she slipped a number of times. Each time resulted in a stumble to the mud, a halt in with the horses, and a rather hard kick from the mounted Kisame. By the last kick she was given, Sakura's head was spinning and she no longer found the strength to stand back up. Closing her eyes, the young woman lay in the mud, feeling the substance ooze into her shirt as the rain pattered down on her prone form. She sensed more than felt herself being lifted from the mud and placed on something more solid. She didn't open her eyes to check before darkness swirled behind her eyelids and the blackness overtook her.

* * *

"Next time, stay out of it." Warned Itachi, as he brushed past Kisame toward the prone figure of Sakura laying in the mud. The horses had been seen to, fed, and fastened to a stake for the night, Zetsu had left to report to leader and would be back in a few hours.

Itachi's Akatsuki cloak pooled around his feet as he knelt next to Sakura, and surveyed the girl. A large bruise was spreading across the girl's temple were the last kick had found it's mark. Although hidden by her hair, Itachi could feel lumps were previous kicks had landed.

"Get off it," Kisame ground out, glaring at the weak kunoichi his partner was nursing. Itachi was currently wrapping the girl's head in bandages covered in a healing salve. "This runt's from Konoha, incase you've forgotten."

"Leaf she may be. Hostage she is also." Itachi fastened the bandages with a clip and sat back on his heels. "If she's telling the truth, she's Sakura Haruno. It would be in our best interest not to kill her before we get back to headquarters."

"I didn't kill her, now did I?" Kisame fisted his hands before folding them across his chest with a growl. "A good kick here or there will get her moving."

Itachi was quiet for a moment while watching Sakura's breathing to detect any abnormality. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, rhythmic pattern. He looked emotionlessly over to Kisame before speaking. "The girl is my responsibility until we get to headquarters. If you kill her before we get there, I will personally hold you responsible when Leader guts us alive. It should be obvious to you that she is a skilled medic nin, many of her injuries have already healed themselves, but treating her as you do will result in her death in a matter of days."

Kisame took a threatening step towards his partner, fists now held at his sides. "Why are you protecting her?" He waved a hand toward the girl. "You should be as ready as I to kill her without a moment's notice."

"And I would be, too, if I were as foolish as you," Itachi said coolly, standing and placing himself between the young woman and his partner. "Kisame, think about it for a second and let your pea-sized brain grasp this concept." The insults caused his partner to bristle, but Itachi pushed on with his logic. "She's Sakura Haruno, or so we will assume until we find out otherwise. Alive, she will be of great use to us. Dead, she is worth nothing. Do you comprehend why I'm trying to keep her alive now? Even if she's not returned to her village, she will sell for enough just for the infamy her name carries. What wealthy persons wouldn't want to buy her and flaunt the fact that he has Haruno bending to his will? Think, you dimwit!" Itachi flicked Kisame in the forehead sharply as the slower individual seemed to catch onto the idea that Itachi was trying to force into his head.

"Fine. I won't kill her before we get back," Kisame agreed after what seemed like an eternity, As an Akatsuki, his only job was along the lines of hack and slash. Brains were not a prerequisite, it would seem. Itachi had always been one of the brilliant minded members of the Akatsuki and tended to grasp concepts at more than twice the speed of his counterpart. It was frustrating to watch the gears in Kisame's brain grind away at an idea for over an hour before it would sink in. Thankfully, in the case of Sakura, putting a monetary concept over her head was easy enough for Kisame to understand.

"Good. Now move. I need to put her inside the tent." Lifting Sakura took little to no effort for the eldest Uchiha and he carried her bride-style in his arms. He watched her face as drops of rain hit it. There was a flinching response that indicated she would wake soon. Most likely with a splitting headache and a muddled memory of what happened to her.

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There second chapter, hope you peoples like it enough for me to continue!


	3. Chapter 3

My apologies for not updating sooner, but school has been taking up most of my free time, I'm sorry I hope this makes up for it!!!!

I'll submit the next one as soon as I can!

And, please check out my work on deviantart . com!!

-IF YOU LIKE ITACHIxSAKURA, OR DEIDARAxSAKURA OR SASORIxSAKURA, CHECK OUT MY GALLERY ON DA!!! (I'm JudgeGooby on there)

R&R please :)

* * *

They were, according to Kisame, making good time. It was for this reason that they had stopped early and made camp.

It had been two days since Sakura had woken with her head wrapped up like a mummy. The rain had stopped the next morning and travel became easier as both the road dried and her muscles became accustomed to the work.

Sakura chewed slowly at the course bread in her hand, gazing at nothing in particular. Kisame and Itachi were sitting near a ring of stone they had created to hold a fire. They ate very little, talking in low voices. Sitting a few feet away, also eating very little, was Zetsu.

He watched Sakura like she was a piece of meat and she snapped her head back, staring intently at her hands. _'creepy'_

As the days passed and as the small group ninja moved slowly to a destination, at times Zetsu or Kisame would leave for hours on end, Sakura however, didn't know where. There destination, she had guessed was the Akatsuki headquarters. Sakura, being constantly drained of chakra from Kisame's sword called samahada, had the most trouble. Although Kisame had promised not to kill her, he had said nothing about not beating her. Often the slightest slip caused him to rebuke her with a physical attack of some sort. Cowed, she avoided messing up in his presence. It was easier said then done as he found any excuse to cause her harm.

Thus, the night Itachi and Zetsu left, leaving her in Kisame's care, brought a shiver of apprehension to Sakura. Even if she didn't trust Itachi or Zetsu, she trusted Kisame less. Without Itachi to cook dinner, Kisame untied Sakura and ordered her to do so while he hovered over her, cuffing her for any reason he chose. Tormenting the girl seemed to become a favorite pass-time for him.

The ingredients she had to choose from were few and Sakura settled for making a simple soup out of some of the barely remaining bread and a few chunks of stringy rabbit. It smelled delicious to her but she knew tasting the meal while it cooked would result in a very bad strike. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it as she stirred the soup to cook it evenly.

As she stirred, Sakura's mind wandered from her task. It had been a terrible few days since her capture. She wondered what Tsunade was doing about it and if Kakashi or Naruto were really looking for her. Tears slid unnoticed down her cheeks as she recalled her life training under Tsunades wing and working extended shifts at the hospital, for the days of healing the injured ninja that where rushed in everyday.

Her breath hitched in her throat as the image of Naruto returned to her mind. He would find her, surely. It had been almost two weeks, though, and Sakura was starting to lose hope in her situation. She imagined things getting progressively worse with no end in sight.

Kisame watched the pitiful creature cooking his food with distaste. At least whatever she was making smelled appetizing, even if she wasn't. Small, weak, the only thing she had going for herself was her looks. By ninja standards Sakura was fragile in appearance, with hair bright pink. A delicate, pointed face and slender body was appealing and rare for kunoichi's, who normally had bodies similar to grass cats, lithe with underlying muscle tone. His long dead sister, he mused, would have slaughtered to have a figure like this one's.

Kisame's face darkened when he heard the hitch in her breath and saw tears dripping down her face. "Knock it off," he growled at her. Startled, Sakura dropped the spoon and glanced his way. Reaching out, Kisame aimed a cuff at her. To his surprise, his hand met nothing. Sakura had ducked.

Instantly, she realized her response, which had been a automatic reflex, was a bad one. In a movement far too fast for Sakura to catch, Kisame had sprung from his seat and sent his fist into her side. Falling heavily, the young woman wheezed for breath as a sharp pain in her side started to spread across her body.

Before she could sit up and grovel to the obviously angry Akatsuki, he was on her.

Straddling her form, Kisame struck down at young girl, anger taking over any of his better judgments. As he had untied her to allow her to cook, Sakura tried to hold her hands up to stop him, shoving at his chest weakly and striking back in desperation. She was too weak and drained, though, and he was too strong. The beatings on his end came faster and more severe. Soon, Sakura barely registered his fists contacting with her body.

It took even longer for her to realize when it had stopped suddenly. Blinking blackened eyes, she gazed blurrily towards the form of Kisame laying a few feet away and a livid looking Uchiha Itachi speaking in harsh tones to his partner.

Itachi had returned moments before, only to see his partner beating Sakura to a pulp. He didn't know, nor did he really care, what has caused this sudden outburst from Kisame. He did know that it had to stop or Sakura would be dead.

Dropping the scrolls, Itachi easily pulled Kisame off the young woman and threw him to the ground.

"Have you lost your mind?" Itachi's face was cool and collected as always, but his voice betrayed him, and he kicked the man forcefully. "Do you want to get yourself killed? Do you want to see me strangled with my own intestines? Do you find joy in the fact that you're trying to kill my only chance of having my eyes healed? Are you really this stupid?" Each question was followed by a more severe kick until the Kisame was actually cringing away from the eldest Uchiha. "Look what you're foolishness has done."

Sakura's eyes were starting to swell shut with the bruising. She couldn't lift her arms, but she managed to turn her head to watch Itachi seize his own partner by his hair and with surprising ease and yank him to his feet.

A small, still conscious part of Sakura's mind laughed victoriously at seeing someone else finally being moved using their hair. She hoped viciously that it hurt Kisame as much as it hurt her.

"Look Kisame." Kisame was pulled by the hair until he looked down at Sakura, who groaned and attempted to roll away. She couldn't manage the movement and lay still, shivering. She wished she could understand what Itachi was saying to his partner, if only for the satisfaction it would give her.

She didn't care why the Uchiha was so angry. She was pretty sure it had something to do with the knowledge that killing her would result with someone seriously pissed off.

Sakura found her eyes no longer able to open and stopped trying. A few muscles in her body twitched of their own accord and she vaguely felt herself being lifted from the ground and held against a hard chest. The air, faint against her skin, spoke of movement. She was being taken somewhere.

"You'll stay out here tonight," Itachi said coolly to Kisame as he bore Sakura towards the tent.

* * *

Itachi watched Sakura sleep as he bandaged what he could of her wounds. He felt broken bones in her but did not give any sympathy as she groaned whenever he prodded a bad injury. Beaten as badly as she was, it was a surprise she was still alive. To think what another few minutes would have done if he hadn't have arrived when he did.

-Sometimes Kisame was a complete idiot.

Past basic first aid, Itachi knew little about healing. He was Akatsuki. He specialized in tracking and killing with stealth. Itachi was no medic nin though. She would be able to be moved in this condition until she had been healed. He had very little in the way of medicine, most of the bottles having already been consumed.

Digging in his rucksack, he wondered if he still had that vial Sasori had given him.

With a small smirk of satisfaction, the man pulled out a small bottle of green liquid. Holding Sakura's head in one hand, he uncorked the bottle with his teeth and tilted the contents down her throat.

With his fingers, Itachi prodded the areas where he had previously felt broken bones. The bone felt solid beneath his fingers. A few moments passed and it was obvious her bruising was dissipating. It would still take her a few days to be back to normal with injuries as bad as hers had been, but Sasori's concoction had sorted out all the dangerous breaks and healed them.

Itachi left the tent and announced to Kisame that they would be staying put for a couple days,

"Zetsu," he said emotionlessly, "will remain behind to watch Sakura. You," his crimson eyes flashed dangerously at Kisame, "Will not go within ten feet of her while I am gone." With that, the eldest Uchiha returned to the tent and settled down to watch his captive.

Unlike his partner, Itachi saw attractiveness in Sakura the moment she was thrown at his feet. His opinion of her features was similar to Kisame's, small and weak, but he did not find her as repulsive as Kisame had. Before she had given him a reason not to kill her, Itachi had felt what could have been a very, very small amount of pity at having ordered his partner to slice her head off. She was a pretty little thing, fragile and slender. It was hard to find a female ninja who looked so in need of protecting. Strangely enough, that appealed to him.

When he had returned with Zetsu, the last thing he had expected to see was Kisame pummelling Sakura. Something unknown to him had rising from the pits of Itachi's stomach upon seeing the spectacle. He was intent on killing Kisame where he stood if it meant keeping Sakura alive. That feeling had unnerved Itachi greatly and made him reconsider his motives for keeping the girl alive.

The handsome Uchiha ran slender fingers through his midnight black hair and continued to gaze down emotionessly at the young woman on his bedroll.

* * *

To say that Kisame was angry would be a grand understatement. It was one thing to be insulted by his partner. It happened often enough that comments about his inferior intellect rolled off him like water. It was an entirely different matter to be passed over in favour of what Kisame deemed a weak animal.

He was livid over Sakura's preferential treatment. He vowed to become even with the pitiful female who dared to cause his partner to behave so irrationally. Itachi often called him a fool but it was Kisame's opinion that the Uchiha was the one acting foolish. He just had to prove it to him.

* * *

'He looks a lot less hostile asleep,' Sakura mused silently. It had taken something close to fifteen minutes for the sore woman to sit up and survey her new surroundings. Waking up comfortable, unbound, and warm was befuddling until Sakura noticed Itachi sleeping on the bedroll next to her.

The first few moments of wakefulness had brought a deep sense of relief to her. She wasn't dead. That was a plus. On the other hand, she was still a prisoner, which brought a second flood of emotion to cover up the relief with disappointment. After sitting and noticing Itachi asleep, Sakura felt a third, stronger emotion.

Panic settled over her quickly as the urge to flee filled her veins and her adrenaline pumped wildly through her body. A quick motion with her leg brought a stab of pain that lanced through her, distracting from the fear. Sakura realized that running away was not going to be an option and would be insanely stupid. She chose, instead, to study her sleeping captor. There wasn't much else to look at in the tent anyway.

_'He reminds me so much of Sasuke'_

His face was lax and had changed his expression into a much softer set. He no longer looked harsh or, Sakura realized, scary. Itachi used scare-tactics but very little force on her. The few times he'd cuffed her were not very hard by comparison to Kisame. It was the shark man who was the extremely violent one of the pair. Itachi, on the other hand, hadn't used force with her since that first day. He was the silent, brooding type that devised plans before a fight. Which reminded her greatly of Shikimaru.

Sakura shuddered to think of what would happen if Itachi were really like Kisame. She would not have survived the first day.

Sakura looked more closely at young man asleep before her. _'You're not the bad one,'_ she told him silently, not wanting to actually speak aloud lest she wake him. _'You just- wait what the hell am I thinking? He is the bad one, he washed the Uchiha clan in blood! He murdered his own mother without a second glance he's the one that has made Sasuke suffer so much!!'_

As she made these revelations, what could have been a ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of Itachi's mouth. He was dreaming, she realized. A small voice in the back of her mind wondered what he dreamt. A smile of her own started to form as she watched his eyelids flicker in sleep. His face was so peaceful that Sakura could not help but lose sight of her predicament. Oddly enough, she felt at ease in the tent watching her captor doze.

A shadow flickered across his features and the eldest uchiha turned his head as though upset. A long strand of black fell across his features, obscuring the frown forming on his lips. Without thinking about her actions, Sakura reached forward.

His face felt smooth under her fingertips as she brushed the hair back behind his ear. The texture of his face surprised her. Her shocks continued as she found herself unable to draw her hand back, tracing the contour of his jaw lightly. This did not last long, however.

With a speed that proved his agility as a ninja, Itachi sprung into action. It was not often he was caught off guard while asleep and he'd be damned if whoever was touching him would get away. In one fluid movement, his hands had shot out to trap Sakura's wrists, his body rolling over to pin her back down. It wasn't until he was on top of her and heard her gasp of pain that he registered who had been touching him.

Sakura stared in muted horror at the eldest Uchiha above her. He had pounced on her so quickly that she couldn't resist. Not that she could have if she wanted to. Her wrists were pinned above her head and almost his entire weight bore down on her slight frame. Gasping, she fixed her eyes on his and waited for him to either let her go, or strike her. She half expected him to kill her for her uninvited touch. When he made no move at all, her fear was slowly replaced by confusion.

Itachi gazed down at the young woman beneath him, a very strange feeling coming over him. He felt something in his chest tighten. He watched in rapt fascination as her expression changed from terror to confusion.

...She looked so vulnerable lying there.

* * *

Ooooh!!! What's he gonna do??????!!!! You guys wont know until you review! mwahaha! 


	4. GOD I SUCK! OO

A/N And now you know what he's gonna do, well I mean you will know...oh damit just read! (and review please!!!! I know you guys are pissed at me for not updating sooner..and this chap is really short)

* * *

_Sakura stared in muted horror at the eldest Uchiha above her. He had pounced on her so quickly that she couldn't resist. Not that she could have if she wanted to. Her wrists were pinned above her head and almost his entire weight bore down on her slight frame. Gasping, she fixed her eyes on his and waited for him to either let her go, or strike her. She half expected him to kill her for her uninvited touch. When he made no move at all, her fear was slowly replaced by confusion._

_Itachi gazed down at the young woman beneath him, a very strange feeling coming over him. He felt something in his chest tighten. He watched in rapt fascination as her expression changed from terror to confusion._

_...She looked so vulnerable lying there_

_

* * *

_

Sakura tried not to squirm when he still had not removed himself from on top of her. He may have been slim, but he was still a lot heavier than she was. His face was inches from hers and Sakura was becoming increasingly distraught over his inaction. Why wouldn't he move? Was he trying to crush her? Was he going to kill her?

His face was extremely close to hers. His eyes, at first she was shocked to see him without the sharingan activated, she thought at first they where coal grey but then she saw they certainly had more blue in them than black or grey, they were almost midgnight blue and sakura found herself thinking that he had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, and now she found that she was unable to look away from those cold murderous eyes.

Was she in his sharingans illusion? Had she been caught in one of his genjutsu's? If he hadn't cast one then...what was this spell he was weaving around her? why couldnt she turn away or move?

Her wide frightened eyes where keeping him at a carefully measured distance. there was something peculiarly childlike in those eyes, he thought. a hurt child-or scared. it made him want to hurt her more, torture her, brake her, hear her scream for him! Just for his own twisted satisfaction and, at the same time it made him want to reach out and touch her reasuringly. His eyes slid over her small firm breasts and for a second he watched as they swelled with her breathing...her waist was narrow, her legs long and elegent but toned.

"please..." she started desperately, wheezing a bit from the effort of speaking.

The single word Sakura had managed to force out despite her heavy load and the sweet warm breath breathed out against Itachi's face gave conflicting signals to the eldest Uchiha. For a long moment, the downward motion he had been inching his head in was halted, his lips less than an inch from hers.

On one side, she was attractive, young, vulnerable and physically irresistible to him. On the other, she had just made him feel something that he outright refused to dwell on. It was obvious by the way she had whispered 'please' that Sakura was terrified and confused by his actions. Just that one word was enough to cause Itachi to realize what he was about to do, and to reconsider.

Suddenly his eyes bled back to crimson, his face-hardened, and he rolled off of her.

"You," he addressed Sakura quietly, "are to remain here." His tone cold, exiting the tent, he ordered Zetsu to guard it closely.

* * *

Where're you off to?" Kisame grunted from the fire-pit, attempting to cook breakfast. Luckily for Kisame, the only breakfast food they had left was porridge. Porridge was about the only food the shark man could cook competently.

Merely glancing at his partner, Itachi put on his straw hat and spun on his toes, cloak billowing behind him and he vanished into the shadowed trees.

To say that Uchiha Itachi had no emotions was quite ridiculous, he was human, and he had emotions, sadly yes, he felt anger, hatred, jelousy and was very much a man, but he also took pride in his ability to maintain his composure and control his emotions far better than most shinobi could.

But, his underlying purpose for leaving was to collect his thoughts away from the cause of his inner turmoil.

Itachi set out to untangle the new problems that were arising from this particular mission. Never before had Itachi been faced with such a dilemma. He hardly dared to put a name to what he was mentally struggling with.

It occurred to him that if sakura had not spoken in the tent, he would have kissed her. He felt an increasing sense of unease about what else may have happened after that particular contact. she couldn't of been that much more than 17 years of age.

It was painfully obvious to Itachi that he was physically attracted to her. He felt the physical pull every time he looked at her. That much was unavoidable. He could not force himself not to want her in that manor. Anyone who tried to do such a thing was a fool and would realize sooner or later that they could not control who they felt drawn to.

It was against his personal morals to take her uninvited, however. He refused to force a woman, regardless of who she was.

To pursue her, though, could, and would mean his eventual death. For him to take her was unthinkable and went against Akatsuki regulations. At least, he reflected coldly, it was unthinkable to do so out of mutual want.

Itachi found a nice stump to sit on and promptly ran his slender fingers over the hat.

He could not deny the attraction, the dream he had been experiencing when she woke him cemented that thought. Another thought forced its way into his mind and unbidden images flashed before his eyes, images of soft naked flesh, the faint scent of some dry citric perfume, two lovers, their bodies entwined together under the black silken sheets in their height of passion-this caused a growing knot of ciriosity, and his mind was quirvering on the borderline between revulsion and fascination. He stood abruptly, a frown tugging at the corners of his lips.

'_I have been thinking too much into this foolishness.'_

They would continue along as planned, finish off what little missions him and kisame had not of yet completed and get to headquarters without any more mishaps.

And then he would make her heal his eyes, but he knew it would take patience and a little persuasion on his part, but, with the right bait... you can catch any fish you want.

As itachi stepped into the camp, Kisame glanced up from where he was sharpening his kunai. After a cursory greeting –Itachi vanished into the tent to check on Sakura.

The young woman looked up from her fingernails as the Uchiha entered. She had not gotten much sleep after he left, mind in too much turmoil to concentrate on resting. Instead, she attempted to take her mind off her increasingly confusing circumstances by picking dirt out from under her fingernails.. It was bad enough she'd not had the opportunity to bathe since last week. She was pretty sure she was starting to smell like Zetsu.

Itachi, without any preliminary greeting, crouched in front of her to look her over. She definitely looked better. The remedy was doing its job, helping her body speed up the natural healing process.

"How are you feeling" His tone, implying that he couldn't care less.

"Stiff," came her even reply. She flexed her shoulders a bit trying to ease he aching muscles and grimaced in pain.

"Hn. Can you stand?"

Sakura shrugged. She had tried before and it had been painful. She started to very slowly shift her legs under her to allow herself to stand, Itachi obviously loosing patience roughly grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her to a standing position; ignoring her yelp of pain and the smouldering glare that he was rewarded with.

"All things considered, I'm _okay_," she informed him coldly after a few experimental bounces. She was too wrapped up in her own self-inspection to notice how his crimson gaze flicked over her chest as it rose and fell with the motion. As if remembering her situation, Sakura added, "Thank you, _Itachi-Kun_," her tone was dripping with scarcasm.

Before she could even gasp the small distance that was between them had been occupied , his tall form trapping her against the wall, looming above her threateningly.

"Listen and listen well kunoichi." He hissed in a deadly whisper, He cupped her cheek in his hand, the gentle and almost loving carress of his cold fingers traced along her jaw, then suddenly his grip was so tight that it was becoming painful. "I do not _tolerate_ pertness, so I suggest from now on that you control that sharp tongue of yours, or I might just..." his eyes lingered on her lips for a split second before meeting her eyes again, "...cut if off."

His painted nails were digging further into her skin with agonizing slowlness, drawing blood. "Am I understood?"

"Y-yes itachi-san" sakura ground painfully out from beind clenched teeth, god it was taking everything she had to keep the tears back.

"Good girl." he whispered carefully beside her head, and sakura froze with fear and confusion when his lips lightly brushed against her ear and cheek as he pulled away, motioning for her to follow him out of the tent.

_

* * *

_

wow i reckon this chapter sucked cauz it was rushed and is very short and probably sounded reaaaaaly gay as well, I didn't have time to go over it and fix things up cauz my new pc is gettin hooked up today and i didn't really want do get what i've done so far to get wiped so i've had to post it, by now you guys must hate me real bad...I posted something at least...itachi cant keep his hands off of her, and i dont think sakura has caught on just yet...AND OMFG I've been working so much on my deisaku story that i will post soon, that I have been slacking off so terribly with this one! I KNOW HATE MEEEEEEEEE HATE MEE READERS I"M EVIL AND I KNOW IT FOR NOT MAKING THIS ALONG CHAP!!

-did I tell you guys that next chapter sakura is introduced to a certain, AWESOME, AMAZING, FLAWLESS, BLOND ARTIST NEXT CHAPTER? cheers for deidara and no, I have not forgot about naruto and the gang, there will be a bit of them next chapter, and yes that was a very short sasuke moment but I dont like the guy very much so I didn't want him to have a big part in this as of yet.

NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE SOO LONG THAT THE SCROLL BAR WILL BE LIKE...TINY OR SOMETHING I SWEAR IT WILL BE SOO MUCH LARGER THAN THIS CHAPTER! IM LAZY AND A TERRIBLE WRITER! AND IT WILL MAKE SENSE! SORRYYYYYYY


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